Until the discovery of the Nag Hammadi codices in 1945, the Gnostic view of early Christianity had largely been forgotten. The teachings of Gnostic Christianity—vilified especially since they were declared heretic by orthodox Christianity in the fourth century—had been virtually erased from history by the early church fathers, its gospels banned and even burned to make room for the view of Christian theology outlined in the canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.